Packet making or other machines comprising intermittently rotatable disks or turrets



June 27, 1950 a. DEARSLEY 2,512,922

' PACKET MAKING OR OTHER MACHINES COMPRISING INTERMITTENTLY ROTATABLE DISKS 0R TURRETS Filed Oct. 29, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig] 5.9.; FPS

G. DEARSLEY 2,512,922 PACKET MAKING OR OTHER MACHINES COMPRISING INTERMITTENTLY ROTATABLE DISKS 0R TURRETS Filed Oct. 29, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 27, 1950 Fy/A.

G. DEARSLEY 2,512,922 PACKET MAKING OR OTHER MACHINES COMPRISING INTERMITTENTLY ROTATABLE DISKS 0R TURRETS Filed Oct. 29, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 June 27, 1950 5 ZJ VQUA, rum

June 27, 1950 G. DEARSLEY PACKET MAKING OR OTHER MACHINES COMPRISING INTERMITTENTLY ROTATABLE DISKS OR TURRETS Filed Oct. 29, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 27, 1950 vc5. DEARSLEY 2,512,922

PACKET MAKING OR OTHER MACHINES COMPRISING INTERMITTENTLY ROTATABLE DISKS 0R TURRETS Filed 001; 29, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented June 27, 1950 PACKET MAKING on OTHER. M CHINES COMPRISING INTEBMITTENTLY o- TATABLE DISKS on'rnnnnrs Gcorge Dearsley, Scarsdale, N. Y., assignor to Molins Machine Company Limited, London, England, a. British company.

Application October 29, 1947, Serial'N0.-782,882

In Great Britain November 14,1946

. 1 Claim. 1

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to packet making or other machines, comprising intermittently rotatable discs or tur- -rets, arranged to convey workpieces to-positions ror stations where operations are performed on said workpieces. Examples of such machines arepacket,making machines of the type in which blanks are folded around rnandrels and secured 'to form open-endedcupsor pockets (hereafter termed packets) a, number of such mandrels beingmounted concentricallyabout a support (such asa disc or turret) and said vsupport being intermittently rotatedon its axis to bring the mandrels in turnto positionsor -stations which stations-may comprise.blank feeding, blank folding and other devices foriconverting a blank into a paoket. Usually-the support rotates in a verticalplane and-generally speaking the machine comprises devices for -filling the packets with the articles tobe packed, in which c'ase the machine becomes: a packing machine.

The intermittent disc or-turretis a widely used device, particularly in automatic machines, and .while the invention is primarilydirected to packetmaking machines .it is equally applicable to other kindsof maehines sinceas will appear it enables operations on workpieces to occupy a longer time intervalthan is available in one revolution of thediscwhichis the normal period of a. cycle in, machines-as hitherto constructed.

An object-of the-invention is to provide a packet making machine of the type described, which .w ,h u 1 mimi iqn o u uti a l t p etsto remain-entire mandrels for a longer time \thanin existingrmachines so astoallow'increased time for sealing thefolds of the packets. Moreovertthe-arrangement is such that there is much rmore space available between the stations for tucking and otner -mechanism and the packets -m ay be inspected during rotation of the disc mu h mor e h ust vely than in ex .Qhine Accord n t the. n ent on he e i o e a machine comprising an intermittently rotatable i-tions before a givenholderstopsagain-ata given Po it o ,According to another aspect .,of the invention thereai s provided amachine of thekind referred :i iie mak nse k is e m i n ano number of mandrels and meansfor intermittently rotattwo revolutions before a given mandrel stops again at a given'position. Thus more than a revolution is taken for the making up of ,a-packet from a blank.

Further according to the invention there is provided a machine comprising an intermittently rotatable-disc or turret havinga number; of :workpiece holders difierentfrom (-e. g. in excess of) the .number of stations and .means for intermittently rotating the disc .by imparting thereto ,a number of indexing movements or equal angular displacements each difierent from (c. g. greater than) the angular ,pitchofthe holders, the arrangement of the holdersbeing such-that thedisc moves through .a plurality of revolutions before it returns to a, particular angular position between two, said equal angulardisplacements and Said stations being so disposed around the axis of the disc that agivenholder stops .atthe first station only during .the first revolution .of the disc and at the last, station only during the last revolution of the disc.

Further according to the invention there is prov ded a m chi 9 t v indrefe d .to f r making packets having a number of mandrels different from (e. g. in excess of) the numberof stations, means for intermittently rotating the supportby imparting thereto a numberpfihdexing movements or equal angular displacements each different from (e. g. gre ater than)' theans a pitch o i mand ls t n emen o the mandrels beingsuch that the support moves through a plurality of revolutions before it returns t a Pa i u a a u a n iqnb iwee two S i iie e gu a pla em n s nd sa stations being so disposed around the axis of the support that a given mandrel stops at the f rst station (e. g. a'blankfeeding station) o ly during the first revolution of the support and at the last station '(e. g. a paoketejecting station) only during the last revolution of the support.

For general guidance in designing a machine:

if M=number of mandrels N=number of revolutions per cycle P=number of mandrel pitches per displacement whether expressed as a whole number or a fraction or an improper fraction D=number of displacements Then M. N=P. D. since M. N.=total\of.-mandrel pitches, passedper, cycle.

3 And if the angular distance in mandrel pitches between the first and last station measured in the direction of rotation=S (a whole number) Then must give a wholenumber as quotient. In this way the time elapsing between the feeding ofav blank and the subsequent ejection of the-packet made therefrom is prolonged although the cycle time of the machine is not increased. a In other words the turret acts as a kind of magazine and carries a blank for a time equal to the total of all the indexing movements between the stop atthe first station in one revolution andthe stop at the last station in a subsequentrevolution whereas in existing machines the time available is only that given by a number of indexing mov'ements equal to the angular distance in mandrel pitches between the two stations.

In designing a machine, -M will depend on considerations of size, weight, cost and like factors and the complexity of folding and other operations. quired for an indexing operation in any machine according to the invention irrespective ofthe value of the angular displacement; then the longest time a blank can be retained in'the machine is given by the design requiring the largest num-.

ber of displacements and not the largest number of revolutions, e. g. 25 mandrelsand 2 revolutions means 25 indexes per cycle but 16 man- 'drels and revolutions only give 16 indexes per cycle.

One 'way of carrying the invention into effect willbe described with reference to the accom- -panying drawings, in which:

,Figure 1 is a front elevation of a disc or turret, for use in a cigarette packing machine, and constructed according to the invention.

' Figures 1A and 1B are views which together show Figure 1 on a larger scale.

Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of apart of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrow II.

. Figure 3 is a section through a mandrelshowing a device for pressing seams of the packet.

Figure 4 is a view .to a smaller scale than Figure 3 showing the mechanism for operating the device.

Figure 5 shows an intermittent motion device 'suitablefor driving the disc or turret of Figure 1.

anddescribed since machines of this kind are verywell known in the art.

Referring to Figure f the drawings, a disc I has twenty-five mandrels. 2 equally spaced around its centre 3 and projecting at right angles to' a plane of the disc which is mounted for rotation in the direction of the arrow on a horizontal. axis. The disc is intermittently rotated by. any

suitable kind of intermittent motion such as a Geneva movementso that it stops each time a given mandrel has .moved twice the angular pitch of the mandrels. A preferreddevice for imparting the intermittent movement will be described later.

In Figure 1 bare mandrels are shownin full Assuming that a fixed time is re-f' the left-hand side of the disc finished packets are ejected from a mandrel which comes to rest symmetrically disposed about a horizontal line A-'B drawn through the disc axis. This position is the ejecting station and marked E. S. As there are twenty-five mandrels it will be seen that at the opposite side of the disc two neighabout the line A-B, that is, the line bisects the bouring mandrels are symmetrically disposed angle between the two mandrels. The upper mandrel of these two is located at a blank feeding position or station B. F. S.

The blank 4 which receives lines of adhesive during the feeding process is fed in the direction of the arrow I by any suitable blank feeding apparatus so that it passes beneath the leading broad face of the mandrel and a gripper 5 which is spring-urged so that normally it is in contact with the leading face of the mandrel and is moved away from the face to permit the blank to be fed and for other operations, by cams which will be referred to later. When the blank has reached its proper position in front of the mandrel the gripper moves up and presses the blankagainst themandrel. The disc 1 is then moved by theintermittent motion so that the mandrel carrying the blank 4 is moved an angular distance of twice the mandrel pitch tobring said mandrel to aposition marked F. F. S.. (the firstfolding station) where the blank is folded into a tube about the mandrel by movable folders of any suitable kind. During the mandrel movement the parts of theblank extending laterally beyond the mandrel face are folded .by guides 20 so that the blank is formed into a U about the mandrel. The movable'folders ,shown are of well-known type and merely consist of a pair of pivoted arms 6 and 1 whichare operated. by any suitable mechanism to'cause folding blades 8 and 9 to move'to and fro across the upper face of the mandrel; Another gripper I0 which is normally held in contact with the trailing face of a mandrel by a' spring is raised at this time by a cam described later to permit the lateral extensions of the blank to be folded down on the trailing face of the mandrel afterwhich the gripper moves down onto thetube seam I l, which is formed on the upper side of the mandrel, and holds the seam while the adhesive of said seam dries. This gripper may be heated, e. g. by electricity, to assist in drying the seam.

At the next stop, two angular pitches beyond the first folding station, the end of the" tube projecting beyond the free end of the mandrel is folded down on to the mandrel end. The operations at this second folding station '8. F.- S. consist of tucking the narrow sides of the tube over the mandrel end and then folding down the two broad flaps on to the same. Referring also to Figure 2, the narrow sides are tucked by tuckers i2 fixed to the ends of pivoted arms l3 which are operated at the required times by suitable mechanism. The trailing broad side of the tube end is then folded over the tucks by a moving folder M and the leading broad flap is folded on to the upper flap by a fixed folding plate l5 as the disc commences to move again. Thereafter the folds are held in position by a plate"; '(or'nitted from Figure 1) vand extending. concentrically around the centre 3 so as tocover the ends of the i mandrels as they move in-their circular path.

If need be the plate may extend nearly up to the position where finished packets are filled as will be described more fully later.

In machines which merely make packets as distinct from those in which the packets are also filled, the mandrels may be more or less solid though they usually comprise an ejector movable inside the mandrel to strip the packet therefrom, but in the example illustrated a mandrel is constructed as a thin tube or sleeve so that cigarettes may be thrust through it into the packet. The end of such a, tube-is not particularly suitable for the folding operations just described, so a removable mandrel end I! is provided. This is moved in and out of the mandrel when the latter stops to provide a temporary end for the folding operation, the mechanism for moving the end I! being the same as that shown in Figure 4 and described later.

At the next stop, after a further movement of two angular pitches, a movable pressing device engages the folded end of the tube and presses it hard against a fixed cooperating device to cause the folds to adhere to one an other. This position of the mandrel is the first pressing station, F. P. S.

The pressing device is fully illustrated and described in the copending United States application Serial No. 777,036, filed September 30, 1947, now Patent No. 2,476,051 and will only be briefly described here with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

The movable presser consists of a plunger I8 movable in a tubular member 2| against the action of a strong compression spring 22. The member 2! is fixed to a rod 23 slidable in guides and reciprocated by a connecting rod 24 pivoted thereto. The other end of the connecting rod is attached to a crank pin 25 on a crank disc 26. The crank disc is rotated at such speed and the throw of the crank is such that in the brief interval of time that a mandrel 2 is stopped at a pressing station the rod and plunger pass into the hollow mandrel, press the seam and move out again. Opposite to the free end of the mandrel there is a rigid abutment l9 which is just touched by the folded ends of the packet tube and forms the co-operating surface for the presser. The part I9 may be fixed to or form part of the cover plate I6 or project through it as desired.

The operative end of the presser plunger comprises, for example, two studs, such as the stud 21 shown in Figure 3, of small diameter (e. g. /4) and with the mechanism described an enormous unit pressure is developed over these small areas and results in the seams becoming very securely and rapidly joined at these places so that the remainder of the adhesive in the seams can dry naturally without risk of any displacement of the folds of the packet.

The pressure is repeated by a similar device at the next stop or second pressing station, S. P. S. and thereafter the disc continues to move intermittently without further operations on the packet until the disc has rotated. slightly more than one complete revolution from the last pressing station as will now be more exactly explained.

Three mandrel pitches beyond the second pressing station there is located a filling station 1 S. where articles are inserted into the packet as described below, but as the .disc is operated in angular movements equal to two angular pitches it will be seen that on .the first passage of the mandrel in question it will pass by the filling station and stop .one mandrel pitch beyond it. After the disc has rotated a complete revolution plus three pitches from ,the second pressing station the mandrel under discussion will stop at the filling station. During all the time taken for the disc to rotate this amount the packet has been drying so that the Seams are quite .set before filling takes place. Moreover, theipacket has been exposed while moving over the upper part-of the mandrel 'path'for prolonged yisual inspection if .need @be.

Often it is desired to furnish the packetswith :an inner liner .of tin-foil or the like, and Where thissis required a feeding and cutting device for the foil is arranged at the top of .the machine. device may ;be of any known construction zarranged rto feed and ,cutsuita-ble len ths vof foil from .a reel. A piece of foil 28 is fed into the path .of a mandrel which is an even number of pitches away from the blank feeding station. As shown, the tin-foil feeding station T.'F. S. is six pitches in front of the blank feeding station. A pair of curved guides 29 extend from the foil feeding station to the blank feeding station, and these cause the strips of foil to be bent into a U about the mandrel and maintain it in position on the mandrel by their friction. While the foil is being fed in front of the mandrel the gripper 5 is moved away from the mandrel as previously described and moves back again under the action of its spring. When said mandrel arrives at the blank feeding station, a blank is fed out as previously described and gripped by the mandrel gripper 5. This gripper also serves to grip the foil when the blank has been fed and gripped.

The remaining folding operations are similar to those previously mentioned for the packet blank as the two pieces of material are folded at once, except that the leading broad flap of the foil strip is folded at the blank feeding station. This folding is effected by a fixed folder 30 similar to the folder I5 already described, and the purpose of the operation is to obtain a foil covering at the bottom of the interior of the packet. Thereafter the foil is folded simultaneously with the packet blank and thus the order of the folds from the interior outwards is leading broad foil flap, foil side tucks overlaid by paper side tucks, trailing broad foil fiap overlaid by trailing broad paper flap, leading broad paper flap.

Any suitable mechanism may be provided for operating the grippers 5 and iii, but in a convenient form rotatable cams 35 and 35 are disposed at suitable positions around the disc axis. The cams rotate on fixed axes and are so timed that as the disc moves intermittently rollers 31 and 38 on the gripper arms come into contact with the cams and permit or prevent the grippers rettes in a 'ccmpressed' state in said chamber is thrust from" the chamber through the hollow mandrel until the leading ends of the cigarettes touch the bottom of the packet.

' The ejecting station E. S. is located two pitches beyond the filling station so that at the end of the next intermittent movement after the cigarettes are fed into the mandrel an ejector pushes them out of the mandrel during which operation the packet is stripped from the mandrel.

It will be obvious that the mechanism shown in Figure 4 can be adapted for thrusting the cigarettes into the mandrel and for ejecting the cigarettes therefrom at the next station.

A convenient intermittent motion for the disc is shown in Figure 5 and consists of twenty-five studs or rollers 32 equally spaced on a circle concentric with the disc axis 3 and engaged by a single thread worm 33which engages with every second stud and moves the disc an angle equal to twice the pitch angle of the studs at each movement. The worm has a part 34 of zero lead and thus while this part is passing between the rollers the disc is stationary. This mechanism is Well known and is only described here because it is very suitable for driving a large disc such as the disc I.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A packet making machine comprising a rotatable support, an odd number of formers about which packet blanks are folded and stuck to form open ended packets, said formers being mounted on said support and equally spaced around a circle concentric wtih the axis of rotation of the support, and means for intermittently rotating the support to bring the formers in turn to positions of rest, folding means located at certain of said positions of rest to effect folding operations on successive blanks, each intermittent movement being such that the support moves through an angle equal to twice the angular pitch of the formers, whereby the support rotatestwo revolutions before a given former stops again at a given position.

GEORGE DEARSLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,442,006 Schmidt Jan. 9, 1923 1,911,370 Ladewig et a1. May 30, 1933 

